A. Field of the Invention
The invention relates generally to an apparatus and method for purifying water, and more particularly an apparatus and method for water desalination (salt removal).
B. Description of the Related Art
Current reverse osmosis (RO) systems for large scale water purification are very efficient for meeting water quality purity on brackish salinity levels, ˜7000 ppm. However, these systems become more inefficient as the salt content of the water increases and are very energy intensive at deep seawater salt concentrations, e.g., 35,000 ppm. Distillation is characterized by high energy demand, while RO systems require both high pressure produced by required pumps, and extensive maintenance due to fouling and damage of the membrane. Thus, both distillation and RO are unsuitable for use in places in which energy is limited, such as third world countries, and for use in rapid military deployment operations.
The present invention is directed to overcoming or at least reducing the effects of one or more of the problems set forth above by leveraging a spontaneous process to directly accomplish salt removal.